It's
where Dexter temporarily moves his killing tools and blood slides into
a back yard shed (after Rita makes him give up his old apartment).

It's where they
have Thanksgiving Dinner (with Debra and Vince Masuka coming over), and
where the neighbor, Elliott, kisses
Rita.

And in the final
episode of Season 4, this is where Dexter finds Rita dead in the bathtub,
a victim of the Trinity Killer.

At the start
of Season 5, it's the crime scene where police arrive and remove Rita's
body. It's seen later in Episode 1 of Season 5 ("My Bad") when
Debra & Quinn clean up the blood, and then have sex. Later still,
after Dexter has rescued Lumen, he moves the traumatized woman into his
former house (while he lives at his apartment), while they are stalking
her attackers together.

Q.
What is it actually in real life?

A. A residential
home. But nowhere near Miami.

Q.
Where can I find it in real life?

A. The house
is at 3319 E. 1st Street,
in Long Beach, CA.

It's on the
north side of street, between Coronado Ave (on the west) and Redondo
Ave (on the east), in the Bluff Park section of Long Beach, just a block
inland from the beach.

It's about three
miles southeast of Shoreline Village (a major filming location in past
seasons) and about a mile northwest of the Belmont Pier area.

As you probably
know by now, they film a lot in Long Beach. The house is just a
few blocks south of Trinity's school,
and about half a mile southwest of the gas station.
It's bout three miles southeast of the plaza
where Lundy first bumped into the Trinity Killer, and about a mile southwest
of the park where they found Miguel
Prado's body in the last episode of the previous (3rd) season.

( It should
be noted that they occasionally mix in scenes shot in other areas
when they are supposedly in Dexter's neighborhood, such as those Neighborhood
Watch chase scenes, which were filmed in another Long Beach neighborhood,
far from Bluff Park. )

I
shot the photos below in June 2009.

[
Warning: This is a private home. Do not trespass
on their property, knock on their door,
or do anything else that might disturb the residents. ]

A. Before
the start of filming for the 4th season, I
read in Tim Grobaty's
Press-Telegram column that "Dexter" would be filming this
year in the Bluff Park section.

As
a challenge, I went to Google
StreetView and picked out three or four homes in the Bluff Park neighborhood
that I thought might be likely candidates. (You know, the one's with palm
trees and red-tile roofs... that Miami look.)

I heard
(from an interview with Michael C. Hall) that the new season would begin
filming in June.

So,
in mid-June, I drove down to Bluff Park on the chance that they might already
be shooting there. And sure enough, when I turned down First Street,
there were the usual big white trucks, trailers and the camera crew filming
a scene. (And sure enough, it was at one of the same red-tile roofed houses
that I had picked out in advance...)

I came
back later, after the crews were gone, and shot the photos you see above.

When
the first episode finally aired, in October, I was able to confirm that
it was indeed Dexter & Rita's new place.